Sometimes You Just Have to Wait for the Light

Most dramatic shots and in this case a silhouette with clouds require ideal light. With sunsets I like clouds, because the color is always better due to the clouds. Adding the element of silhouette to a image doesn't always require clouds but combining it with a sunset makes it more interesting. So I had the sunset, clouds, and awesome colors, but the beacon was not lit up. The color of the sky was waning as the sun dipped into the horizon level clouds and it would be a matter of minutes before the sky got much less interesting. I had my shots without the beacon on and started packing up. As I turned and headed toward the shore I looked back one more time. The beacon just turned on! I scrambled and reset all my equipment back up. I got the below image. Sometimes you just have to wait for the light.

Unexpected Sunrise

I was on my way back from my Upper Michigan trip and stayed at a stopover point in Menominee, Michigan. My motel happened to be overlooking Green Bay. The actual bay of Green Bay not the city. The lighting was very flat that day and pretty much continued that way into the night. The next days forecast was overcast with occasional rain. Not ideal shooting conditions but as a photographer you learn to work with what is given to you. The next day I was up early as I usually am at 5:30 AM. I needed to retrieve something from my car. As I was heading for my car, I looked over at the bay and noticed what was the making of a beautiful sunrise. Remember the forecast was predicting overcast with occasional rain so I was not expecting to see any sun. Once I noticed the sunrise I immediately ran back to my motel room and retrieved my equipment. Knowing that I only had a matter of minutes, time was of the essence. This is where knowing your equipment and being able to set it up quickly counts.

This first thing I noticed was the abundance of clouds. If the clouds are in the right area, it is always a recipe for a more compelling sunrise. The other thing I noticed was small areas of ponding from snow melt occurring in the area. In the end the following was my unexpected sunrise.